Suggestion on XLR Cables

...What are those mid to high end cables (RCA or XLR) made out of to warrant such premium prices (few hundred dollars per cable)?...

I think snake oil is a key ingredient.

I agree with marcyun that so far I've heard very little difference in XLR Cables unlike RCA's where there are significant differences. As mentioned for little money the Canare are good. For a bit more the Solid Silver or Silver Litz XLR's from Sunny Audio Shop on E-Bay allow a bit more micro, macro dynamics through.

There are a pair of Audioquest Diamond XLRs on auction on Ebay now. I prefer any of Synergistic Research top cables the Apex, CTS. With the time of year now is the buying and selling time. Most any of the better known cable companies that have more time in the field of cables have also spent more R&D time, and will get you the results you are looking for.

@bradluke0

Had a absolute top flight Ayon Preamplifier come through here a few years ago - it had balanced connectors on the back - but - a quick look inside - pin 3 had no termination :-) US standard has pin 3 as the inverted signal.

Balanced equipment either for home or professional use have several advantages and if executed properly will outperform a single ended system. Typically less noise, better transients and dynamics all things we strive for in music reproduction. If the system is balanced through out from cartridge or DAC (and here I mean the actual IC (BB1704K) or (ESS9018) for examples) to speaker the benefits of Fully Balanced design approach easily shine through.

Good Listening

Peter

First to start, if you dont find your higher end cables, I suggest that you dont waste money and agree with many comments here about Canare Star Quad, and Benchmark media builds them very nicely for a great price.

The all round second best cable i have tried is actually middle priced and it's the Cerious Tech Graphene Extreme XLR. It has it nearly all, resolution is just astounding, just lacks some dynamics and a little bass. You can get them new in your budget.

The best high end cable I have tried and tried and tried against dozens including cables costing HUGE amounts of money and that surpass them all and that I now use in all my systems, is to me without a doubt, the TelluriumQ Silver Diamond. I'm not sure you can find these second hand, but really worth a search.